Management Learning and Leadership PhD

What Will You Study

We welcome talented and committed applicants from all over the world whose interests and research plans match well to those of staff within the department. Our research is characterised by its criticality, reflexivity and the integration of theory with practice, and by a desire to help shape the world in which we live.

Given the individualised nature of research and the importance of cross-disciplinary perspectives, we normally allocate each student two supervisors. PhD study involves a large component of self-directed study but in the first year of the programme students attend a series of taught courses and seminars to ensure they have a rigorous foundation in various methodologies and approaches to research. Special PhD workshops, attended by the Department's full- and part-time students, provide another important way of taking your ideas forward.

Research in the Department focuses on three broad areas: how employees learn, how leadership is developed, and how organisations can learn and develop over time. In our work, we engage with contemporary debates in a wide range of disciplines, including organisation studies, education, cultural studies and sociology, to address key theoretical challenges as well as practitioner and policy issues in management. While there is a rich heritage within the Department of using action learning and action research approaches we draw upon a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods as appropriate.

Our graduates go on to successful academic careers in some of the world’s leading universities, and some use their PhDs in industry or to inform their work as consultants.

Key Information

Doctoral Director: Professor Claire Leitch.

Entry requirements: Masters degree or equivalent, ideally with relevant work experience. Exceptionally, an upper second class honours degree or equivalent.